Greater

Hello precious loved one of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
As I told you lately, right now I am “reading” (actually listening to the audiobook version of) one of Joyce Meyer’s books, titled “The mind connection”.
In this book Joyce Meyer highlights the impact our thoughts have on our lives in general (mood, joy, social interactions, ministry etc.)
The way we see ourselves, and what we think about ourselves will not change what God thinks about us, but will greatly affect our lives.
“The voice you believe will determine the future you experience”
– Pastor Steven Furtick
What if we learned to see ourselves as God sees us? To think of ourselves as God thinks of us?
This brings to my mind the song “Greater” by MercyMe.

The general idea behind the song is that we all have those feelings (sadness, shame, pain etc.) but the big question is “how do we deal with it?”

• Do you feel shameful?
• Are you hurt right now, and do you think it will never get better?
• Do you feel like you’re “not alright”?
• Do you think you’ll never be enough/ that you’ll never make it?
• Do you experience doubt?
• Are you afraid of something right now?
• Do you call yourself a mistake because you fell?
• Do you feel miserable?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions. Congratulations, because this is the very first step to realising that God sees you otherwise.
Those feelings are due to thoughts, and those negative thoughts which you have, those voices which condemn you aren’t from God but from the devil trying to play with your mind and trying to discourage you to keep you from serving God.
The Holy Spirit will convict you, make you know where you sinned so that you can confess your sins to God, and be forgiven. He will also counsel you and give you strength on how to flee from sin.
The devil does the opposite. He’ll remind you of your sins in order to discourage you and make you believe that it’s over, that God will never want someone like you after all what you did, and of course to make you believe that you have no effort to do anymore and that you can as well indulge in sinning more since you’ve already “lost” God’s love.
As Joyce Meyer recommends in her book ”The Mind Connection”, and as Pastor Steven Furtick recommends in his book “Crash the chatterbox”, you have to learn to recognize the lies of the devil and to replace them with The Truth which comes from The Word of God.
Let’s try this out.

To the one who wrestles with shame everyday

Christ already died to bear the weight of your sins, you don’t need to live in shame but in joy, devoting all your life to serving Him faithfully.
1 Peter 3:18 NLT

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

To the one who’s suffering right now and losing hope

God is present to heal you and accompany you when you’re hurting. This too shall pass.
Psalms 30:5 NLT

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

To the one who feels unqualified and not “alright”

God knows you’re not perfect yet but it doesn’t make Him love you any less.
Jeremiah 31:3 NLT

Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.

To the one who feels like he’s never enough

All by yourself you can never be enough, but in Christ Jesus you are enough. What you are not, He is for you.
Philippians 4:13 NLT

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

“Christ is in me, I am enough”
-Pastor Steven Furtick

To the one who thinks his/her doubts disqualify him/her from being used by God

You don’t need to live in doubt because for sure, God can be trusted. However, even if you doubt, God can use it as a trigger to frustrate you and push you to increase your faith. Doubting isn’t the end of your world but an opportunity for your faith to grow if you choose to.
It is because queen Esther was frustrated that she fasted and prayed and did what was to be done and that God used her to save Israel. Doubt isn’t the problem but what you do about it.
Esther 4:13‭-‬14‭, ‬16‭-‬17 NLT

Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

To the one who lives under continuous fear

Even if your worse fear comes true, God will still love you and He will still take care of you and help you get through it.
Romans 8:35‭, ‬38‭-‬39 NLT

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To the one who doesn’t feel forgiven though he/she did repent everytime he/she fell

When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your mistakes or the number of times you fell. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus. Thus, God has already approved of you. You can therefore draw closer to Him without any fear and with a full desire to serve Him. Once He has forgiven you, He never thinks of it again. Don’t bother yourself living in your past sins.
Isaiah 43:25 NLT

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.

“If you don’t let your past die, it won’t let you live”
-Pastor Perry Noble

To the one who just feels miserable all the time

God has loved you and chosen you, thus, you don’t need to feel miserable. He wants you to enjoy His joy.
Your mind is a battlefield. The moment you decide to fight this battle against the devil, to refuse his lies and to choose only the thoughts which come from God, you’ll start enjoying the life God wants you to enjoy.
Ephesians 6:12 NLT

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

As you’ve seen all the lies of the devil are demolished by the truth which comes from God’s Word.
God says something beautiful about your life, but the devil says something totally different.
The One (Jesus) who redeems you with His grace is greater than the one (the devil) who condemns you with his accusations.
You get to choose whose voice you’ll believe.
Philippians 4:8 NLT

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Exercise

1. Did you recognize yourself in any of the dysfunctional thoughts listed above? If yes, confess it to God and ask for His Help through His Holy Spirit so that you can see yourself as God sees you.
2. Decide today to start being intentional about your thoughts, so as to leave no room to the devil.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, I thank You because for every condemnation in my mind, you have an answer in Your Word. Convict me and counsel me when I am wrong, teach me to recognize condemnation and to not fall for it. Help me choose my thoughts in a way which honours You, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

It’s Now Your Turn

Which lies of the enemy have you started recognizing? Please let us know in the comments section.
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Thank you so much for reading
God bless you
Victoria Eyog